1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique capable of managing setting information of an image forming apparatus, such as a printing apparatus, a copying machine, or a multifunction peripheral having multiple functions.
2. Description of the Related Art
A recent image forming apparatus has a plurality of functions prepared beforehand, and has the capability of additionally installing various applications. A user of the image forming apparatus can use these functions and applications directly or via a network. The setting information increases in the number of items to be set or adjusted if the total number of the functions increases. Thus, an initial setup of an image forming apparatus for office use takes a significant time.
Hence, prior to the delivery of the apparatus to an office system, a selling agent is required to perform preliminary kitting that includes a work for introducing and setting applications and options according to the system beforehand in a batch manner. More specifically, a worker performs a manual setting work considering setup conditions received beforehand from the delivery destination as well as setting information extracted from an existing device (e.g., a target machine to be replaced) of the delivery destination.
Hence, in a situation that the worker is forced to work concentratedly to deliver a large number of machines during a busy time, it will be difficult to secure a sufficient lead-time for the shipment. Further, even in a case where the adjustment and setting work has been completed before shipment, the delivered machine may not smoothly operate due to ambient conditions (e.g., vibrations during transportation, temperature difference, and humidity difference). In such a case, the worker may be requested to replace the delivered machine by a non-defective one. In this case, it is necessary to perform the setting work again for the delivered image forming apparatus. In such a case, it is desired that the setting values can be quickly reflected in the image forming apparatus.
As a conventional technique, it is feasible for an apparatus to acquire or distribute common setting items from or to another apparatus when the apparatus is connected to a network or a memory medium. For example, according to a management method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-238799, setting information common to a plurality of models is discriminated from setting information effective only to a specific model and can be separately output to an external storage device. Further, it is feasible to select effective setting values exclusively from an external storage device and store the acquired setting values in an internal nonvolatile memory.
However, the setting information of a recent image forming apparatus is finely classified into a plurality of categories, such as setting information relating to various control operations to be performed by the apparatus, setting information relating to image processing, setting information relating to installed applications, unique information relating to each device configuration only, and common information relating to initial values of common functions (including an address book) that are common to a plurality of models.
For example, unique setting information that is dependent on a device configuration is applicable to only an image forming apparatus that has the same device configuration. In an image forming apparatus having a different configuration, a setting item having a different format and the value thereof are used in management.
Further, setting information relating to license or security is information unique to each machine body due to operational reasons, and, therefore, cannot be equally used for another image forming apparatus even when the apparatus has the same configuration. As another example, unique setting information dependent on each application can be managed using setting items that have a format variable depending on each vendor that has designed the application.
Further, setting information relating to new functions of a brand-new model or setting information relating to functions relevant to updated specification is initially managed as unique setting information. However, these functions are gradually applied to all models as time goes on. Therefore, unique setting information is no longer new and will be classified into (or regarded as) common setting information as it becomes older.
Hence, according to the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-238799, an update flag indicating transmission allowance and acceptance allowance is allocated to each setting item to manage the device information and a setting value of the update flag can be managed. In other words, the setting information is managed fixedly for each setting item using the update flag. As described above, the setting information of each image forming apparatus is finely classified into a plurality of categories depending on the use of the information. Therefore, the management method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-238799 is insufficient to realize satisfactory management. Further, if the above-described flag indicates that the transmission is disabled, the setting value cannot be transmitted to an external device. In such a case, if the above-described change to the common setting occurs, it is unable to transfer the setting value to another device flexibly.